Singe
by CloverKronos
Summary: <html><head></head>One last night in her old apartment wouldn't hurt, unless everything be set ablaze.</html>
1. Poor Bubblegum

**Hey! This is a Firefighter AU based from that amazing fan art and the one who made it said I can do it so yeah! I really just want to write this thing to get it out of my system. This is also my first fic so uhh.. enjoy? **

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><p>"Are you sure about this Bubblegum?" A tall blonde asked, the girl in question just rolled her eyes.<p>

"Yes Lady." Bubblegum gave the place a once over before facing her friend, lightly shrugging her shoulders. "For closure, you know."

Their flat was nearly empty save for the old couch and other furniture that was permanently glued or too worn out. There were some boxes left for moving but were not important.

"We could postpone this." Lady tried. "Give you more time to adjust living alone, Jake would understand."

"Nonsense!" Bubblegum exclaimed. She took Lady's hand in her own, looking very determined. "I can do this Lady. You and Jake have been planning to live together for a long time! And it's not like we won't be seeing each other again, sheesh."

Lady giggled then pulled Bubblegum in a tight hug. "I'm just gonna miss living with you and your experim-" Lady suddenly jerked away. Holding Bubblegum in arms length with her hands on her shoulder, narrowing her eyes. "I hope you're not doing this so that you could do your dangerous-no-sleep-experiments."

"No! And that was one time!" Bubblegum blushed heavily. Lady didn't look convinced with her answer but before she could open her mouth, her phone buzzed. "That must be Jake, didn't you say you had plans for dinner?"

"Don't think you're off the hook missy." Lady stood up. Grabbing her bag then dragging Bubblegum by her hand to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow at your new apartment, okay?"

Bubblegum nodded then smiled warmly. She gave Lady a hug then a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

She made her way back to the couch then plopped herself ungracefully, grabbing a nearby book. She knew that her friend meant well but she wanted to try living alone and doing things for herself.

She and Lady are childhood friends and they even went to med school together, they didn't go to dorms but instead rented an apartment close to school. Two years after college Lady got a job as a nurse at a clinic and Bubblegum pursued to be a doctor.

Jake works as a detective along with his brother Finn at the local police. He met Lady when he was shot in the arm by a bank robber, Lady assisted in cleaning and tending to his wounds when the doctor was busy with the other patients. Jake immediately asked if he could take her out on a date sometime, she said yes.

She was glad that her best friend was happily in love but not so when Lady tied to set her up with Finn. Bubblegum politely declined anything but friendship because she was too busy with her studies and experiments. She even used the excuse that Finn was four years younger. Romance wasn't really her thing.

Feeling slightly drowsy, she stood up and grabbed the large bottle of water beside her then made her way to her room. Same as the rest of the apartment, it was also nearly empty except for a bed, a closet, and a desk. Her cat was sleeping on top of one of her remaining pillows. She placed the bottle on her desk then threw herself on the bed with a plop, she rolled on her sides then drifted to sleep. She thought about ordering pizza after her nap.

Now, when Bubblegum said she just wanted to spend one last night in her old apartment, this was probably not what she had in mind. Not once in her life that she would imagine herself going like this, but there she was, huddled in a corner of her room in her pajamas, drenched in water while her surroundings were being set ablaze by a fire she didn't know came from. In her arms wrapped protectively with a wet towel was her cat, Goliad. The poor cat was shaking with fear, his white coat turned black and gray by the smoke. The side of his neck where his collar used to be was burnt. She was also holding a whistle, it was the only thing she could reach that wasn't burning.

Her eyes were already red with tears due to the smoke and her uncontrollable coughing, she couldn't see through the thick smoke. The fire was slowly inching towards the corner she was in. _Wow I can't believe I'm gonna die in a fire I didn't even start._ She shook her head violently, now was not the time to be thinking negatively, she needed to escape. _Help me, anybody!_

As she was about to pass out, she heard the front door of her apartment crash.

"IS ANYBODY IN HERE?!" a muffled voice rang out. The only thing that she could register is that it was a feminine voice. "CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!"

Another crash indicated that the place was going down and that wasn't really good news since she was in the 16th floor. She tried to shout to alert the woman on where she was hiding but her throat was scratchy and refused to cooperate. _I just had to pour __**all **__of the water on us. _Sarcasm wasn't really helping. Bubblegum remembered the whistle she was holding, she blew as hard as she could, the metal was hot on her lips but she ignored the pain and kept blowing till she heard her bedroom door crash down.

A tall figure was rushing towards her. Strong arms lifted her up from the floor, one arm under her knees and other supported her back. Bubblegum was slowly slipping out of consciousness, she tried her hardest to stay awake but she couldn't breathe anymore, the heat was too much. She let out a groan and the woman started to make their way outside.

"Don't worry miss, I got you. We're gonna make it out so stay with me, okay?" The woman tried to talk to her. Goliad let out a mewl and she instinctively tightened her arms around him. "I got you too, big guy." The woman said gently.

The ground began to shake just as the Firefighter reached the front door of Bubblegum's apartment. The frame of the door had already crumpled effectively blocking their way out. The Firefighter cursed under her breath, she knew that it was only a matter of time before the building collapsed. She glanced at the pink haired woman in her arms and her cat, secured her hold so that both of them were safe and would not fall. She aimed a kick at piece of doorframe that looked weak and effectively disintegrated it, she side stepped over the small rubble and made her way to the hallway.

As she was about to reach the fire exit, a large metal refrigerator crashed in front of her sinking to the floor below. She flinched and jumped back a few steps, the ground shook again. "Holy shit that was close. We really need to get out of here." The hole that the refrigerator made was not that big but it was hard to jump a distance when you're carrying a girl and her cat. The Firefighter quickly measured the distance, mentally calculating if she could make the jump. Running out of time, she ran forward and leaped with all her strength praying that they would make it.

Landing near the fire exit, the Firefighter toppled over as her knees gave away. She heard a hiss from a bundle of towels to her right then scrambled to get up. "Shit I'm sorry, I got you, I got you." When she hefted the girl up she noticed that the pink woman was barely breathing. "Shit. Oh shit." The Firefighter arranged the girl over her left shoulder then balanced her hold of the cat with her left hand leaving her right arm and hand empty. She raced down the stairs grabbing the handles with her right hand for balance, ignoring the fatigue and the ache in her legs. Her fellow Firefighters cheered when she finally ran out. Just seconds after they got out, the building collapsed with a huge explosion. The onlookers and tenants gasped and screamed.

Distancing herself from the collapsing building, the Firefighter lowered the girl on the ground and proceeded to treat her. She gave the cat to another Firefighter and ordered to tend to him. She placed her index and middle finger at the side of the pink woman's neck just below her jaw, she felt a pulse but she noted that she wasn't breathing. Taking off her mask and helmet she then proceeded with CPR.

Bubblegum felt fingers on her nose and chin and very warm but incredibly soft lips against her own, someone was giving her air. Then she felt pressure on her chest, pushing the air that was given to her out. Lips were on her again and the second time the pressure on her chest came, she felt the smoke in her lungs come up her throat. She coughed and rolled on her side. Someone was rubbing her back coaxing her to relax.

Her throat burned, gasping she tried to sit up but she couldn't move. She felt arms sitting her up and a cold bottle of water was being pressed on her lips. She tried to open her jaw and drink the water she craved but her body won't function properly, the cold water just flowed at the side of her lips. Her eyes were still sore and blurry and watering, she couldn't properly see what was going on. She was breathing fast, she was starting to panic.

She felt a pair of lips on hers again but this time cold ones, a hand was gently holding her jaw open, she felt cold water on her tongue then her throat. She felt herself swallow then again and again the lips left then came again with new water. Bubblegum felt her body function again, she could move her hands. The bleariness of her eyes was going away.

Bubblegum raised her right hand to feel the face of her savior, the lips on hers slowly retreating. Blinking her eyes to focus, she let out a soft gasp. What she saw took her breath and not in a bad way. Her savior's face was smiling so gently at her, those startling green eyes reflecting her blue ones. Bubblegum found her slightly crooked nose lovely and her plump lips irresistible though her face was covered with smudges and dirt and her black hair tied by a ponytail was slightly singed here and there, the Firefighter was absolutely breathtaking.

"Don't go passing out on me again." The Firefighter slightly teased, frowning shortly then smiling again. Bubblegum smiled and felt the hand still on her jaw, a thumb softly brushed her lips. "You should drink more water."

The Firefighter moved away, handing her half of the cold water. She heard a soft mewl beside her. "She's okay big guy, just a little shaken up." Bubblegum hurriedly pulled Goliad into her lap, hugging him gently to not hurt his burns as he mewled and purred. Her savior stood up.

"That's one brave cat. Fought all the way, even told me off for toppling over and dropping you." The Firefighter chuckled. "Medics are here now, get a lot of rest and water."

Before Bubblegum could thank her for saving her life, another firefighter came running to them. The other firefighter ripped off his mask and helmet throwing them on the ground, he shoved her savior hard on the chest then pulled her back by the collar of her uniform.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" He shouted at her face. "You could've _died_ you asshole! We were ordered to go down the stairs bUT YOU WENT THE FUCK UP! You were only seconds- sECONDS away from being blown to bits you fucking bitch!"

Bubblegum was startled by the sudden outburst but the woman just shrugged. "I heard a whistle, Marshall." her savior calmly said. "Look at her and try and tell me that what I did was wrong."

The man whipped his head to look down at Bubblegum, she instinctively tightened her hold of Goliad who gave a loud hiss. His eyes softened a bit then he released his hold of the woman. He noticed the medics making their way to them. "Fine fine, come with me the boss wants a word." He sighed, walking away.

Her savior just shrugged, turning her head to Bubblegum to give her one last smile then walking over to follow the angry man.

Poor Bubblegum didn't even get to say thanks.


	2. Holy Shit

An old man was seated behind his desk, he was writing something on a piece of paper. He wore a dark blue suit with a red necktie, he also had a beard that almost touched the surface of his desk. Everything was quiet until a groan was heard. He paused for a second, not expecting the sudden sound then he continued to write. Another minute passed when he heard a deeper groan and a shuffle. He sighed.

"Do you have something you want to say?" He calmly said. Still not looking up from his desk.

Seated aloof in front of him with her arms crossed, was a young woman. She was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a black shirt with a grotesque drawing of a snake slithering through two marshmallows, each impaled by a stick. Her long black hair was ruffled and slightly uneven. She had a frown on her face, her bright green eyes glaring at the old man in front of her.

"Oh _me_? Nah, I'd rather sit here and be _invisible_ because you know.." Waving her arms around her then crossing them again. "I'm not _needed _anywhere, I don't really have _plans _for today."

"Your chief sent you here. Again." He calmly stated. Still not looking away from his work. "Do you know why?"

"Because he's a condescending ass?" She snickered. This time the man lifted his head up to narrow his eyes at her. "Okay, okay." Lifting her hands up, palms faced away in a form of surrender.

"You disobeyed orders." The pen he was holding was set down, he intertwined his own fingers above his desk. "Again."

"You know I only did that to-"

"Marceline." He warned. "We do what we have to do, only if the situation calls for it."

"So you're saying I made a mistake about saving a life? We made it out-"

"No!" He interrupted again, his voice getting higher. "You were almost killed by that robber! Your chief told you not to go but you found it rather necessary to chase after him than extinguishing a burning bank!"

"I saw him ran by a corner pressing a gun on a little boy's head!" She argued. Her face contorted by anger "Did you expect me to ignore that?!"

"I expected you to do your damn job!" He stood up abruptly. "You could've just told a nearby officer of what you saw, but you chose to go vigilante on him with nothing but a stupid axe?! You're a firefighter for God's sake not a cop!" The woman only stared at him. Her mouth opening and closing, unable to formulate words.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down. He smoothed the front of his suit while walking towards the window. "What you did was really irresponsible, and don't even get me started on that building incident last week. You were _lucky_, lucky that you got out on time, lucky that his aim was terrible." Turning back to look at the woman, his eyes softened. "But you can't always trust luck, Marceline. We almost lost you, _I_ almost lost you."

"Look Simon, I'm sorry okay." She gently said. "And that building thing was _last month_ ago, you yelled at me for a week, remember? Now come sit back down before you get a heart attack or something. Jesus."

"You're the one giving me the heart attack." He let out a chuckle despite his aggravation. Sitting back down and picking up his pen to resume his work. "You can't go disobeying everything your superiors tell you. _They_ can't fire you on the spot since you're fortunate enough to be my grandchild but don't tempt me, Marceline." He scrawled his signature at the bottom of the paper before handing it to the woman in front of him.

"_Finally_." She sighed. Standing then walking to the old man behind the desk. She kissed him on the forehead then made her way to the door. "Bye Gran, love ya."

"We're not finished with this discussion, young lady." He gruffly said. "...I love you too. Now get out."

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><p>"Are you sure you're okay? Do you need help with those?" Lady offered.<p>

"I'm fine Lady, my arm was slightly burnt not disabled." Bubblegum retorted. Walking off to the kitchen.

They were at Jake and Lady's house and was currently waiting for Finn and his friend to arrive so that they could all go out for a movie and then dinner. After the whole wake-up-with-your-house-on-fire business was over, Bubblegum was forced to spend most of her time at Jake and Lady's house.

Bubblegum stayed for four days in the hospital, only because Lady wouldn't allow her to go home unless she was a hundred percent sure that her burns were fine. And on the days that she was home, Lady was there too.

Bubblegum understands that Lady is still shocked because she almost lost her best friend but she had to admit that it was becoming really annoying. Since she was the one that almost died, she wanted more time on reflecting and relaxing.

And by reflecting, she means remembering those green orbs staring a her intensely. Bubblegum has never seen eyes look at her that way, it was like they were staring at her soul. Bubblegum couldn't remember her whole face because her eyes were still blurry at that time, plus her glasses were burnt to a crisp. Of all the times you need a good eyesight, it gets burned. Well at least Bubblegum remembers the firefighter being hot. _She does have a nice a-_

"Hey yo PB?" Jake waved his hand in front of Bubblegum's face. "Are you cool with that?"

"I'm _totally _cool with tha-" Bubblegum blushed hard. Snapping out of her daydream and focusing on Jake. "I'm sorry Jake, what was that again?"

"I said, I'm inviting a couple of friends to the movies. Wouldn't want to waste these tickets" When Bubblegum studied his face for a moment, her eyes flickering to Lady and him. He quickly added "No funny business I promise! Not gonna go cupid on you this time." He gave her a sheepish smile.

"As long as you keep your promise." Bubblegum said sternly. When Jake only whooped in reply "I mean it Ja-"

The doorbell rang and Jake was out of the kitchen faster than the wind. Bubblegum could only groan her anxiousness away walking to the living room with Lady as Jake answered the door.

"Finn and Fi are here!" Jake shouted excitedly.

Finn is Jake's adoptive brother and police partner. They fight crime and uphold justice. Finn has this long, beautiful, blonde hair that he hides in a worn out white beanie and bright blue eyes, he has a jock build body with a six-foot-tall height and the face of a baby. He likes the color blue so he makes sure to wear at least one thing blue and that day he decided to wear a pair of black pants and a blue hoodie over a white shirt.

Standing to his right is his cousin Fionna. Fi for short.

Fi is Finn's cousin. Though they look so perfectly alike that people assume that they're siblings. Sharing the same fondness with the color blue, she wore a short blue skirt with a light blue, long-sleeved shirt. Unlike her tall cousin, Fionna is quite petite. Standing beside him and just reaching his chest, but they both are very cheerful nonetheless.

"Yo Peebs what's up?" Finn said. Giving Bubblegum a gentle hug, mindful of her healing burns. "You good?"

"Yeah, girl!" Fionna bumped her cousin by the hip so he would move and she could hug Bubblegum next. "Those burns are looking a lot more better."

"I'm fine guys, jeez." Bubblegum smiled as she was released. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah we're good." Jake said. Grabbing his car keys by the coffee table.

All of them made their way outside the house. They usually carpool to save gas and enjoy each others company.

The trip to the mall was short. Idle talks about the weather and how they were holding up with their own jobs and lives. Jake was telling them about some bank robbers who blew up a bank.

"Oh yeah, speaking about that, Jake." Finn piped up from the back seat. "Marshall said he's busy today."

_Marshall? Why does that sound familiar?_ Bubblegum thought. There was a strong nagging in her head about that name.

"Doing what? I bet he's being a sour puss coz' Marceline owned his ass on LoL again" Jake laughed. Turning on his flasher then turning right to the parking lot.

"Hah. Five bucks says she blew his Minecraft again." Finn cackled.

"You're on little bro." Jake chuckled. He tried to control his laughter by looking around for a vacant space. "Is Marceline coming?" He coughed.

"Yeah." Finn said. "She said she was on her way."

After parking the car and making their way to the back entrance of the mall. Bubblegum couldn't help but ask. "Who's Marshall and Marceline?"

"Sorry 'bout that, they're the friends I was telling you about earlier." Jake said. Reaching out to hold Lady's hand. "Me and Finn met them a while back. Saved our asses a bunch of time, too. We were thinking about introducing them to you guys."

"Oh so they're Police Officers?" Bubblegum asked. Something was definitely coming she could feel it in her gut.

"No, no. They're firefigh-" Jake noticed a red motorcycle being parked across from them. "There she is now- YO HEY! MARCELINE!" Jake shouted then waved. Lady slapped his arm lightly and scolded him for being so loud.

The person that owned the red motorcycle paused to look at the sudden noise. The person took off the helmet and Bubblegum was sure, so sure that all the air inside her was blown away.

Her long black hair that flowed endlessly, Bubblegum question how that small helmet was able to hold it. It looked so soft even though it was noticeably uneven. And even though Bubblegum was like, fifteen feet away, she swore she could feel those green eyes piercing right through her. Those hips that swayed as the woman walked towards them. That dangerous smirk that sought to give Bubblegum a heart-attack and the only thing that Bubblegum could think and say was.

"Holy. Shit."

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><p><strong>AN: Yo guys! I'm really really sorry about the late update. My mind is kind of messed up about what I should do with this fic :)) But! No worries I got the next chapter after this rolling up! Thanks again everybody! You guys rock!**


	3. Loud and Clear

"So let me get this clear, _you._" Jake pointed a finger at Marceline. "Were the one that saved PB from getting barbecued?"

"Mhmm." was the only thing Marceline could say through her mouth full of food.

"Okay, and _why _haven't you said shit?" Jake said slowly. His eyebrows lifting up accusingly. It was obvious that he wasn't letting this go. Finn and Jake were enjoying this too much.

Marceline swallowed her food and eyed Jake. "What did you want me to say?" She gave a noticeably fake smile. "Hey Jake, Just want you to know that I saved a girl from a burning building cause hey! I'm a firefighter! Hell yeah!" Marceline said cheerfully, she even fist pumped the air and gave a whoop. Her sarcasm was applaudable.

Following the events of Bubblegum's reaction on Marceline's arrival. They briefly reenacted and explained to their friends why they knew each other, and by briefly, meaning they went on for an hour. The same question kept being asked before, during, after the movie and even as they were eating dinner at a cheap restaurant, the interrogation continued.

After the girls were done giggling at Marceline's antics, Finn coughed.

"Well remember that time when me, Jake and Marshall were at your place and we _specifically _asked you guys if you extinguished a _specific _building?" Finn failed to notice Jake's wide eyes and the subtle shake of the head.

"Oh yeah... I remember that." But Marceline's smirk tells him she did. "I was about to answer you _specific _question but then, Jake suddenly flipped the board game we were playing and started yelling 'I'm high as a motherfucker bitches where them nachos at!?' _over_ and over. Do _you _remember that?" Marceline smiled sweetly at Finn, It was entertaining to see Finn realize what happened. Oh how the tables have turned.

"Oh? When was that?" Lady asked in a sugary sweet voice dripping with thick absolute venom. Finn and Jake were looking at each other with wide eyes filled with intensity, the color of their faces receding. Marceline knew about the cleanse Jake and Lady were going through but Jake annoyed her too much today. She could feel Jake mentally begging her to stop. Hah Payback.

"I can't remember the exact date." Marceline saw Jake relax a bit. "But I'm guessing it was about three weeks ago? I think?"

If there was a word to describe Jake's face, it was morbid. He slowly turned his head to look at Marceline, who was giving him the you-asked-for-it face. Then slowly and carefully turning his head to look at his girlfriend that was sitting right next to him, who was smiling like death.

"That was the time you said you were solving a murder out of the city, with Finn." Lady said sweetly. She was still smiling but everybody could feel the poison hidden in each word.

"Ooooohhshit.." Bubblegum and Marceline said at the same time. They both turned to look at each other, which was easy because they were seated together, then quietly whispered "Busted." they quickly covered their faces to muffle their laughs. Fi was doing well on not laughing, trying to keep a straight face while the corners of her mouth and her left eye were twitching. Finn on the other hand was looking away, determined to not meet anybody's eyes.

"I can explai-" Jake tried to start  
>"We'll talk about this at home." Lady said. Effectively cutting off Jake.<p>

The conversation flowed smoothly after that, since the favorite topic was dropped. Marceline told them stories about her life on being a firefighter, then Bubblegum with her experiments, then Fi with her veterinarian stories but when Lady was telling a story and Jake started to say something, Lady smiled and quickly said that his opinion wasn't needed. That shut him up.

Bubblegum noticed that whenever Marceline would talk about something she likes, she would smile so lovely and her green eyes would shine so bright that Bubblegum has to look away before she does something stupid and creepy, like touch Marceline's face or something. Sometimes Bubblegum would catch Marceline smiling at her for no apparent reason and it takes all of her self control to not blush...more that she already has. And Marceline's laugh, _Oh my God that laugh _Bubblegum thought _It's like my stomach is facilitating some pyro-olympic. _

Marceline on the other hand was terrible at self-control, whenever Bubblegum told them a story, Marceline would say words like "cute" and "adorable". Then she finds herself smiling longer than she should at Bubblegum. _ 's looking at me again_ Marceline thought _Did she notice? Am I talking too much? Is there food on my face again?!_ And Marceline would 'accidentally' bump her hand or try to tell a joke then choke on her own spit. Smooth, real smooth Marceline.

The walk to the parking lot was quick and everybody was sad to say goodbye.

"Hey Marceline can I get your number?" Lady asked as they reached the spot for the motorcycles. "You're cool, lets hang out sometimes." Lady ignored Jake when he said he has Marceline's number.

"Yeah girl me too!" Fi said excitedly. She fished out her phone from her bag. "You should meet my sister Cake! That would be so awesome!"

"Yeah! Pretty Ladies asking my cell!" Marceline laughed. She blew a raspberry at Jake when he flipped a finger. "I'd love to hang out with you girls."

Marceline returned Lady her phone then started to dial her number in Fi's. Lady nudged Bubblegum's side then gave her a what-are-you-waiting-for look.

"Uhm.." Bubblegum murmured after Marceline gave Fi her phone back.

"We'll be waiting by the car okay?" Lady smiled. "It was so nice meeting you, we'll hang out okay."

All the protest Finn and Jake had, died when Lady gave them a hard glare. They were forced to peacefully say goodbye, for now. They said they'll punch her face some other time.

"Hey... you uhh want my number too?" Marceline turned around to face Bubblegum.

Bubblegum gave Lady a panicked look but Fi and Lady gave her winks and a thumbs up. _SAY THANK YOU _Lady mouthed at her.

She was about to answer but Marceline was smiling again. Marceline was looking at her and her eyes were so focused and so intense, it was like looking at the sun. _Get a grip Bonnibel you're staring again! _She quickly shook her head. "Yeah!" Her voice going unusually high. She cleared her throat before saying. "I hope that's okay?"

"No!- I mean yeah!- I mean- just-" Marceline grabbed Bubblegum's phone. She started typing really fast then she shoved the phone back in Bubblegum's hands after. "You should give me yours too." After wrestling her phone out of her tight pants, she handed it to Bubblegum.

"Do you want to grab some coffee sometime?" Marceline asked. The question caught Bubblegum off guard and Marceline thought she crossed the line "Not if you don't want too! That's cool, that's fine. I mean- we could hang out- with Finn and Jake after they murder me for selling them out- and Lady and whoever you want- or if you don't like coffee then we'd get tea- even though I don't like them- please stop laughing." Bubblegum started to laugh in the middle of Marceline's rambling because she remembered Finn and Jake's face.

"I'm sorry" Bubblegum said. The laughter in her voice setting down. They heard a honk and turned to see Jake getting yelled at by Lady. "I think I should go, and coffee would be great." she coughed.

Marceline was now giving her a five-year-old adorable smile and Bubblegum had to walk pass Marceline towards the car because she could feel her blush reach the tip of her ears.

Halfway to the car Bubblegum stopped, she turned around to walk brusquely towards Marceline who noticed her right away. Bubblegum couldn't believe she forgot to say the most important thing.

She was in front of Marceline again. Taking a deep breath. She let it out.

"Thank you for saving my life, Marceline." She wrapped her arms around Marceline's side but let her go quickly. "And for saving my cat, thank you. We're glad to be alive."

Before Marceline could reply, Bubblegum turned around and ran to the car. Not walk, ran. She ran like Forrest Gump. Opening the door and shoving herself in. They left Marceline standing on the parking lot with her mouth open.

...

Later that night, Marceline received a text message from Bubblegum, it even had emojis in it. Marceline laughed so hard and long until she fell asleep. She was totally getting a black eye from Jake.

_**From: Bubblegum**_

_**"YOU GOT HIGH?! YOU GOT HIGH WITHOUT ME?!"**_

_**- Lady**_

_**The sound was muffled by their bedroom door**_

_**From: Bubblegum**_

_**But we heard it loud and clear from the porch**_

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><p><strong>AN: Hi guys! thanks for all the support! by the way, they were high on weed. because why the fuck not? :)) The next chapter after this will have so much plot so I apologize if it might take a while. Thanks again for reading! **


	4. Long Live The Queen

_Run._

A man with light brown hair was scampering through the alleyways, making almost all waste bins crash behind him. Frantically looking in all directions while he fled, covering his frightened face were sweat, mingled with tears.

_Faster. Run Faster._

Tripping over a dirty puddle, the man gave a short desperate cry before quickly standing up and running again. He felt so cold even though he was covered with sweat. His mind was going blank with fear, his stomach was so full of dread that he wanted to stop running just to vomit. He knew he couldn't. He was sure that if he let up even for a second, he would die.

_I smell you._

The man then cried as he ran faster, screaming miserably for any kind of help. He could feel his body burning in pain and going numb simultaneously. There was a horrible spine-chilling fear boiling in the pit of his gut. He could hear it coming for him. He knew. It was coming. It was coming.

_I see you._

There was darkness all over the city that night. Stars were thickly clouded, the new moon giving no light at all. He could see the busy part of the city where people passed by. People. Just a few more steps. He raised a hand to reach the end of the alley.

He stopped running all together when a tall shadow landed in front of him. He froze.

"P-Please... I-I-I b-beg of you." He kneeled. Weeping as he bowed his head to the ground.

The shadow walked or rather, glided towards him. He began to shake uncontrollably, he raised his head to show his sweaty face riddled with tears and snot. "I w-won't tell a-anybody what I k-know! We f-found her... We f-finally found h-her."he bowed his head again.

The shadow moved to crouch down, making the man flinch when it did. "We know." It whispered so softly. The man raised his head again to look at the shadow, his frightened face slowly relaxing. But the longer he stared at the shadow, the faster his dread returned.

It smiled at him. A slow hair-rising smile that made his skin crawl and his insides drop. His eyes widened as he screamed.

He screamed and he screamed until he screamed no more.

The thing still smiled.

OoO

"Sooo..." Lady calmly said. Flipping a page of the magazine she was reading, the corners of her mouth slowly rising. "How'd it go?"

Bubblegum shifted uncomfortably on the couch they were sitting on. "How did what go?" Also flipping a page of her book.

"Oh you know.." Lady flipped another page. "Your date with Marceline?" Her sweet smile turning sly.

"We just went out for a coffee, Lady." Bubblegum answered quickly. The seriousness of her face was betrayed by the forming blush on her cheeks.

Lady hummed. Flipping a page of the magazine again, the sly smile never leaving her face. "So I'll assume you're just drinking coffee three times a week for the past three months."

"Wha- We're just friends, Lady." Bubblegum was getting really uncomfortable in her seat, this was the first time Lady brought the topic up and Bubblegum was seriously nervous on what Lady would say.

"Mhmm." Lady finally closed and disregarded the magazine she was pretending to read. "I don't know about you Bubblegum, but I don't see myself frequently drinking coffee with a _friend_ for more than six hours." Lady turned to face Bubblegum, propping arm on the backrest of the couch, her hand resting on the side of her smug face.

"I...What...Were you _spying_ on me?" Bubblegum was so flustered that she dropped the book she was reading to stare at Lady.

"Duh, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out you guys are _dating._" Lady shrugged. "I got tired of waiting for you to tell me anything, if you even plan on telling me anything at all. So spill it Bubblegum."

"I don't know what to call it but I'm not dating her." Bubblegum sighed. She closed the book on her lap then placed it on the coffee table in front of them. Mind as well tell Lady. "Not that I don't want to." she muttered.

Bubblegum couldn't say what Marceline is to her. They hold hands sometimes, and friends do that. But you don't see friends looking at each other with such fondness, it seriously blurred the lines in their friendship. It bothered her that they were at a state wherein they were less like lovers but more than friends. But what irked her the most was that she couldn't describe what she felt, because she hasn't felt that way about another person before and it doesn't help when Marceline would blatantly change their conversation whenever it came close to that topic.

It was like Marceline was keen on avoiding the discussion, as much as she possibly can. And that put a dead weight in Bubblegum's gut.

"Hold on a minute okay." Lady raised a hand up to interrupt Bubblegum. "You're telling me, you've been going out all the time as _friends_?"

Bubblegum only nodded in response.

"And she makes an effort to avoid the sappy talks?" Lady's raised eyebrows were threatening to disappear in her hairline.

Bubblegum nodded again. "Maybe she doesn't see me like that?" Bubblegum shrugged. The corners or her mouth pulling down and her lower lip slightly pushing out.

"Girl, I can tell she's gay for you from five blocks away." Lady rubbed Bubblegum's back. "Maybe she's just waiting for the right moment or something."

"I hope so." Bubblegum smiled, then stared at Lady for one solid second. "You're okay with the idea of me and Marceline possibly dating each other?" Bubblegum blinked.

"Uhh... Why wouldn't I be?" Lady genuinely asked.

"You're okay with me being... You know.." Bubblegum shrugged then gestured at herself.

"What?" Lady's eyebrows were like a line on her forehead with how it was furrowed. "Being a pain in the ass? Trust me, I'm used to it."

"No!" Bubblegum groaned. She took a deep breath then exhaled. "Being gay." Bubblegum whispered so timidly, Lady had to lean close a little bit.

Lady suddenly pulled back with a loud gasp, her hand above her heart. "Bonnibel Bubblegum, don't you dare think for one second that you being gay will change my view of you. Is that why you haven't told me anything?" Lady gave Bubblegum a tight hug then a hard flick on the forehead. "Besides, it's my fault for assuming you were anything but straight. Sorry 'bout that"

"That's okay, I'm not even sure what I am. This is the first time I've felt like this for someone." Bubblegum sank herself lower on the couch, wishing it would just swallow her up. Bubblegum was glad that Lady accepted her for whatever she was but her mind was still disturbed by Marceline's refusal to talk about things.

Mission Impossible's theme blasted from Lady's phone, Bubblegum rolled her eyes at the ringtone Lady chose for Jake. Lady smiled brightly and excused herself to talk to her boyfriend.

Bubblegum considered what would happen if she would be in a steady relationship with Marceline. Bubblegum would have to cut her time with her precious experiments, not that she already had to. Her studies would be greatly affected since she was a graduating student, summa cum laude wasn't given to just anybody. Most importantly, her cat Goliad would have to get used to Marceline's dog, Schwabl. Not that Bubblegum was thinking of living together. Not at all.

_Whoa there girl, you're not even sure if she likes you. _Bubblegum's subconscious argued.

Bubblegum was so concentrated on her inner debate that she flinched when Lady plopped herself down on the couch.

"Jake said he's inviting the guys over for dinner. Do you want to come with?" Lady smiled. Bubblegum was just starting to shake her head,a negative response forming on her lips when Lady smiled wider then said. "And by guys he also means Fi, Cake _and _Marceline."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there." Bubblegum said quickly as if she was planning to go from the start.

"Riiight." Lady drawled. Knowing full well Bubblegum wouldn't come if she didn't mention a specific name. Getting up and collecting her things. "I'll see you at seven, okay?"

Bubblegum nodded excitedly. She watched Lady close the door to her apartment then scrambled to find something to wear for that night.

OoO

Bubblegum parked her car in front of Lady's house, a familiar pink car indicated that Fi and Cake were there. A red motorcycle was evidence that Marceline was there as well.

Bubblegum took a deep breath then got out of her car. Walking to the front porch, she mentally checked herself out.

She was wearing a pink hoodie over a white tank top, purple skinny jeans that complimented her backside and her pink converse. Bubblegum spent three hours raiding her closet for a nice thing to wear. She thought about wearing a dress but it was too formal for a simple dinner with friends. She didn't want Marceline to think that Bubblegum was dressing up for her. _No sir, not one bit _Bubblegum lied to herself.

Ringing the doorbell once, she stood and waited to be let in. As she was waiting, Bubblegum heard muffled shouting and screaming. When Lady opened the door to welcome her in, thick, colorful curse words greeted her ears.

"STUPID MOTHER FUCKER TRY SHIT THAT AGAIN I FUCKING DARE YOU!" Shrieked a voice that sounded like Fi, but more barbaric.

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME BITCH! I WON'T FUCKING COME SECOND PLACE AGAIN!" A manly voice that sounded like Marshall Lee shouted.

"STOP FUCKING WHORING THE ITEM BOXES YOU FUCKING CUNT!" Now that voice sounded like the gentle Cake that Bubblegum knew, except there was nothing gentle about her at the moment.

"YOU SLUT-BAGS CAN'T GET PASS ME! FUCKING EAT THIS BLUE SHELL YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Ahh. Now that was the voice Bubblegum was waiting for _That's the woman I chose to have feeling for. Charming._ Bubblegum pinched the bridge of her nose, forcing herself to remember good memories.

"They're playing Mario Kart." Lady smiled. It was obvious that she was enjoying this. "Finn and Jake are on their way."

Lady made her way to the kitchen refusing Bubblegum when she offered to help. Bubblegum was forced to make her way to the living room where war was currently on going.

As she entered, she saw Marceline standing up, holding a controller and triumphantly waving it in the air. Marceline was wearing the shirt with dead marshmallows again, _Must be her favorite shirt._

"YOU GUYS AIN'T GOT SHIT! SIX WINS IN A ROW BABY! YOU FUCK NUGGETS CAN KISS MY ASsss...a..." The glorious grin on Marceline's face instantly got wiped out When she noticed Bubblegum. "You...Uhh...Heard that?" Marceline nervously made her way to Bubblegum

"Every word." Bubblegum said sweetly. "Don't mind me, you guys play along." She smiled then sat herself on the sofa beside Fi who was sitting next to Cake. Bubblegum patted the space beside her on the end of the sofa for Marceline to sit.

"Okay.." Marceline anxiously sat down. Subtly kicking Marshall, who was sitting on the floor for snickering.

The game continued and all of them were shouting and yelling at each other. All except Marceline who sat quietly, Maintaining the most impressive poker face Bubblegum has ever seen on her face. Marceline would crack once or twice by trying to shout but stopping herself by biting her lips. Bubblegum was seriously enjoying this but she wanted Marceline to have fun too.

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you." Bubblegum murmured after Marceline's second win. The others were too busy cussing at each other to hear them. "I'm just a little shocked hearing you swear like a sailor, but it's okay." Marceline visibly brightened.

An hour, a few changes of games and a lot of swearing later, Marceline walked away victorious. Fi, Cake and Marshall had sour looks on their faces, muttering their bitterness together. Bubblegum was rolling her eyes at Marceline who was parading back and forth in front of the television, but she had to admit that she was impressed by Marceline's winning streak. When Lady announced that dinner was ready, they all made their way to the kitchen.

Bubblegum grabbed the remote, she was thinking of tuning the t.v. off but decided to check the evening news first.

"_-as reported missing since Monday. The family claims that he was kidnaped by a notorious group_." The female newscaster grimly reported. Beside her was a picture of a smiling man. He had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. "_A person, who wishes to not be named, informed us about the name of the said group. It was called Ni-_" The television suddenly went blank, it was turned off. Bubblegum was confused.

"Let's watch that depressing thing after dinner, okay?" A voice said from behind her. Bubblegum turned around to see Marceline holding the remote. Bubblegum shrugged then followed Marceline and the others to the kitchen. Bubblegum thought that maybe it wasn't that important.

"I'm telling you, that bitch sold her soul to the devil!" Cake exclaimed. They were setting up the table when Marceline and Bubblegum went in. "I mean, how can you explain that? She hasn't lost a single shit."

"Yeah. I bet she has. Mother fucker always knows all my passwords." Marshall muttered while placing forks on the table.

"Wow. So much bitterness in the air. Don't breathe in Bubbs, I don't know what I'll do if you go sour too." Marceline caught the strawberry that was forcefully thrown at her by Fi with her mouth, wriggling her eyebrows just to spite her. "It's called skills, weak noobs."

"We're hooooome!" Thankfully, Finn and Jake walked in before hell broke loose. Jake dragged his feet to where Lady was then gave her a slack hug, resting his head heavily on her shoulder.

"Oh honey, you both look terrible." Lady was right, Finn and Jake looked like walking corpses with their sluggish movements and bags under their eyes. "Let's eat, okay?" Lady asked. Jake just grunted as a reply.

The food brought back the colors on their faces and soon enough they were all enjoying dinner. Finn was slightly frustrated that he missed playing games with his friends, but laughed out loud when Marceline gave him everybody's detailed faces every time she won. Jake was thanking Lady for the food and every once in a while leans in to kiss her cheek.

After the table was cleaned and everybody was fully rested, Jake purposely coughed to get everyone's attention. When he was sure that everyone was looking at him, he spoke.

"We need to tell you something and it's important that you listen carefully." Jake said seriously. He glanced around his friends, finally resting his eyes on his brother who was frowning. "We talked about this Finn, they're our friends, we have to keep them safe." Finn averted his eyes then gave a curt nod.

The rest of the group was confused by the sudden seriousness of the two. Bubblegum had a bad feeling about this. They all leaned forward to hear what Jake had to say.

"It's about the missing people." Jake started. "Six people went missing four months ago, at first we paid no mind to it since people go missing everyday. But as we investigated further into it the nastier it got." Jake retrieved a briefcase underneath the table then placed it on top.

Jake opened a brown envelope in the briefcase then laid six photographs on the table. Some of the smiling faces in the pictures looked familiar to Bubblegum.

"I know that woman." Bubblegum shakily said. "She was that crazy woman living on the rooftop of our old apartment, the one that got burned down." Bubblegum turned to look at Lady who was nodding her head. "And that one, he used to sell ice cream in front of the school I'm studying at, we just thought he went to sell to another area." Bubblegum pointed at one picture then another. ''And I think this one, was the driver of the bus I used to ride on." By the time Bubblegum was finished, Finn and Jake were looking at each other with grim faces.

"Honey, this man delivers our hospital supplies." Lady pointed at one picture. Her face going white.

"This woman always came every week to give her dog a check up." Fi pointed at one picture. Her hand shaking. "I thought her dog was fine but she kept insisting on check ups."

"Jesus Christ, this girl was a regular at my sweet shop. I wondered where she went." Cake pointed at a picture of a smiling young woman.

"Marceline." Marshall Lee said.

"I know." They were both glaring at a picture of a man that robbed a bank.

"This woman was found inside a metal refrigerator, we found it under the basement of your burned apartment. This man was found inside of his ice cream freezer. This man was found inside a box near a bus station. This man was found inside of a truck. This woman was found inside of a drum, her dog was alive sitting beside it. This woman was also found in a drum. And this man was found in a broom closet inside prison. They're all dead." Jake pointed at the pictures one by one. They were all shaken by what they just heard. Jake produces another batch of pictures from a different envelope. "They were all chopped to pieces."

When Jake laid out the pictures, Fi, Cake, Lady, Bubblegum and Marshall instantly recoiled and turned to look away. Marceline glared even harder at the pictures.

"Aww man." Marshall said. He saw Marceline not looking away so he forced himself to look at the gruesome pictures. "Good Lord, look at that shit. that's messed up."

Bubblegum shifted uncomfortably in her chair. While adjusting her seat, her hands grazed Marceline's under the table. But before she could pull away, Marceline grabbed her hands and linked them together.

"The higher ups ordered us not to tell the public because they didn't want them to panic and think that there was a serial killer on the loose. All they know is that these people are missing." Jake pounded the table with his closed hand. "They want to keep things under control but" Jake's voice cracked. Finn stood up and made his way to his brother. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Our boss was missing since Monday. We were hoping nothing bad happened but.." Finn took out his phone and swiped through it. When he found what he was looking for, he placed the phone on the table, displaying a horrendous picture of a mutilated body. "We were an hour late."

"Finn and I talked about this on our way here, the higher ups are still planning to keep a tight lid on this but we want you guys to be informed on what's happening." Jake said. Regaining the strength in his voice. "I know it's weird that some of these people are familiar and I want you all to be safe. If you see something weird around you, call for help and get the hell out of there. We still don't what's going on but these are not just random people."

Marceline was now glaring at Finn's phone. When she felt Jake's eyes on her, she quickly locked eyes with him. "What. The. Fuck. Are. These." Marceline pointed one by one the torsos of the dismembered bodies.

"That's whats fucked up about this, they all have it carved on their skin." Jake said. They all stared at the pictures on the table. They all failed to notice the way Marceline's eye twitched as Jake said.

"It says '_Long Live The Queen_'."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi guys! Tell me what you think about this okay? :)) this thing isn't rated m for no reason so don't get mad. Thanks for all the reviews and views and all you awesome people! If you have anything to say about this you can tell me, okay? I love you guys! Thanks again! Marceline's dad is making an intro in the next chapter, stay tuned!**


	5. Daughter

It was a beautiful morning, the fire station was a peaceful place to be. The firefighters walked about, joked and pranked each other, the others ate while the others worked out or cleaned. Everything was calm and quiet until a loud alarm sounded. All attentions were aimed at a white speaker, waiting for its announcement.

"_Calling all members of Unit one, please assemble immediately. Thank you._" As the speaker repeated itself twice, the people who were not part of that unit relaxed and resumed what they were doing.

A woman who was eating, prior to the announcement, ate her meal faster. She was halfway done eating her nachos and burger, squirting ketchup in her mouth as the last of her fries were shoveled in. A man that was jogging in her direction grabbed her by the midsection purposely carrying her with him. The woman frantically reached for her unfinished food, successfully snagging the burger and nachos but missing her coke by mere inches.

They were the last to reach their fire truck. A tan, bulky man, probably in his forties that was holding a thick clipboard glanced their way. He grimaced at the sight of them.

"Wipe your face, Petrikov. Or do you want to feed Heres later?" He said snidely at them.

"Shut up." Marceline and Marshall both said. They both hurriedly pulled on their beige and yellow jumpsuits.

"They need more people at the fire downtown." The man threw their helmets at them, slightly harder at Marceline."Turns out the jewelry shop across the street was being robbed."

"Is it that bad?" Marceline flicked a finger after catching the helmet. Both she and Marshall got on the truck with the others.

"Not really, that is until they found out the place was rigged with bombs." The man shrugged. He waved them goodbye as the fire truck sped off. "Good luck, brats!"

"Asshole." Marceline sent the man a dirty look. "I hate him, and I don't even know why."

"Don't worry, he hates you too." Marshall chuckled.

"Dude, seriously. I haven't even done shit and he's mad already!" Marceline reached the inside of her jumpsuit and pulled out a wrapped half-eaten burger.

"Exactly. You haven't done shit, at all. All you do there is eat and work out." Marshall shrugged. The fake shock on Marceline's face made him laugh along with her gibberish that sounded like 'ah goo ngaht!' through her mouth full of food. "Yes you do." He chuckled.

Marceline's phone vibrated from the front pocket of her pants inside her jumpsuit. Retrieving the phone with a smile on her face because she perfectly knew who texted her. Marshall tried to read the message but Marceline typed a fast reply then quickly shoved the phone back in her pocket.

"Morning texts from the girlfriend, eh?" Marshall wriggled his eyebrows at Marceline.

"Shut up, we're not dating." Marceline flicked his forehead with so much force it left a red spot.

"Yeah right, totally not dating." Marshall scoffed. He rubbed his forehead, frowning at his friend. "Why don't you just ask her? You guys _obviously _dig each other."

"You know perfectly why, stop bothering me." Marceline rolled her eyes. They passed by a group of pedestrians waving at them. Marceline whistled at her team. "Wave back! Cute and cuddly boys! Cute and cuddly." Marshall decided to just drop the subject.

The rides to their destinations were always rowdy, this one was no exemption. The people they pass by gave shouts of encouragement which the firefighters returned with whoops, cheers, and waves. Most importantly, they saluted and greeted children who vied their for their attention.

Marceline abruptly locked eyes with a grim-looking man wearing a baseball hat, half his face was covered by the collar of his black coat. He was leaning heavily on a lamp post, his body looked tired and worn out. But the moment he laid eyes on her, the man smiled, but not the warm smile Marceline was accustomed to. No. The man's smile was crazily twisted in a way that made Marceline greatly uneasy. What unnerved her the most is that the man only followed the fire truck with his eyes, even as they rounded a corner, Marceline could still feel the man's eyes on her.

There was a faint throbbing in Marceline's head. At the right side of her head just a few inches above her ear, the scar on her scalp throbbed. Marceline raised her right hand to cradle the side of her face, her fingertips gently touching her scar.

That man disturbed her, a lot.

"Earth to Marcebutt, come in Marcebutt. Over." Marshall was waving a hand in front of Marceline's face, he noticed her tense stance and the forming sweat on her forehead. Marceline jolted when Marshall placed a hand on her shoulder, his brows furrowed. "Are you okay? You look ill."

"What? No, I'm fine. Very peachy." Marceline snapped out of her trance and shook her anxieties away. "Did you notice that creepy guy? The one with the baseball hat?" Marceline could hear her rowdy team members greeting a passerby, she forced a smile.

"No, not really." Marshall was still raising his eyebrows, clearly unconvinced. "We're almost there, are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine Marshabutt. Quit being a mom. Over." Marceline rolled her eyes. Wiping the cold sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand then rubbing it on Marshall.

When they arrived, The bakery was still burning, but it was no longer that big of a fire. The jewelry shop on the street across, however, was surrounded by the police. The place was crowded since the street was very narrow. Marceline spotted Finn and Jake beckoning her to come over.

"What's the status?" Marceline asked as she got close enough. She gave both of them a pat on the shoulder as a greeting.

"Not good." Jake said grimly. "Based on what these onlookers saw, those thieves panicked when they saw the bakery burning, and when they were about to split, the firefighters arrived closely followed by the police stationed close by. A little boy noticed the thieves pointing their guns at the hostages and told his mother, she then alerted a nearby officer. The desperate assholes then decorated the place _and_ the hostages with bombs." Jake sighed. "They even strapped the kids with bombs, who the fuck does that?"

Jake had a bad feeling about this day, ever since he woke up he felt that something was going to happen, and he strongly felt that this bakery and jewelry shop incident, was just the calm before the storm.

Marceline noticed the dark bags under Jake's eyes, and knew what caused it but she was wise enough not to mention anything here. "What do you want us to do?" She asked instead.

"Tell your guys to stand on guard and be ready incase the sick bastards decide to blow the place up." Jake smiled and Marceline gave a thumbs up to both of them.

Marceline jogged back to the other firefighters and instructed them, she asked the others to help the police check the crowd but advised them to stay alert and come right back if they have nothing to do, she asked the others to stand by and ready their equipments, she then asked the others to help her extinguish the remaining fire from the bakery so that the other firefighters can rest.

After an hour of negotiating, the robbers finally agreed to release some of the hostages. The jewelry shop was still full of bombs but the hostages that were released, were freed of the death jacket. The robbers first released an old couple, then two boys, then three women, and finally a pregnant woman. The four robbers now held two men and a teenage girl hostage.

They asked for an armored van and a plane, if they were given their escape, they promised to not hurt anybody. Jake was getting that gut jerking feeling and his heart was pumping faster.

_Something is seriously not right here._ Jake thought.

The onlookers were growing and the police and firefighters were having a hard time pushing them back. A shady looking man wearing a baseball cap made his way through the crowd. Jake's phone rang the nyan cat tune.

"Baby it's really not a good time to be calling me right now." Jake spoke to the phone. Finn sparing him a side long glance.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm watching from the hospital t.v., please be carefull." Lady's really worried voice did nothing to calm him down.

"Yes, we all will. I have to go Honey, I love you." The armored van had just arrived and the robbers and hostages were making their way through the door, but everything still felt wrong, like he was missing something.

"I love you too..." Jake was about to hang up when Lady quickly asked. "What do you mean you all will? Is Finn there? Marshall and... Marceline?... Jake? Hello?"

Jake blinked. By now the bakery was extinguished and Marshall and Marceline were waiting behind him. Finn looked irritatedly at him, wondering why he was at the phone at this crucial moment but the look on Jake's face caught him off guard.

"Jake?" Finn tried. Jake looked at him then turned around to look at Marshall holding a hose and Marceline wielding an axe. Marshall was about to make a joke about Marceline's axe when both of them noticed Jake looking at them, they were both smiled reassuringly at him.

The man with the baseball cap was at the edge of the crowd of onlookers, his hands were hidden under his coat.

Marceline was confused by Jake's stare, it was like he was too confused and shocked to say anything. Marceline was about to say a joke but as she looked past Jake's shoulder, she noticed a familiar figure at the edge of the crowd, the man with the baseball cap smiling at her.

A cold sinking feeling wracked her whole body her knees visibly shaking as she saw the man pull out his left hand from under his coat to reveal a remote. Tha man's derailed smile never leaving her face.

Jake noticed Marceline's affrighted face and turned to look at where she was staring at. Jake saw a man wearing a baseball cap holding a remote, mouthing the words: _LONG LIVE THE QUEEN_

A loud thunder-like explosion rang out, then heavy rain followed. Thick red drops of rain poured and people screamed as the two hostaged men along with three robbers blew up. The remaining hostage and robber were forced forward from the impact of the explosion, the teenage girl shrieking and begging to take the jacket off her.

Seconds after the first one, a second explosion happened. And this time it was rubble that rained upon them. Jewelries rained from the sky but no one paid them mind, the ones that could stand up scattered and ran away from there, and those who can't simply curled up in fear, beyond terrified on whats to come.

Forced back by the intensity of the second explosion, Finn, Jake, Marshall and Marceline found themselves sprawled on various places of the street. They were still dizzy and the ringing in their ears were still not subsiding, they underestimated the power of the explosives. Finn was on his back, breathing rapidly and trying to sit up. Jake was on his stomach also breathing rapidly and trying to sit up. Marshall's leg was trapped between the gutter and a large rock, but he was still conscious, trying desperately to move the rock. Marceline was blown towards a car's windshield, it was shattered and the hood of the car was heavily dented but she was conscious and still holding onto her axe. The right side of Marceline's head was hit by a stray rock and was now heavily bleeding.

Marceline quickly observed her surroundings while caching her breath, she caught sight of Marshall whimpering by the gutter. Marceline immediately pushed herself off the hood of the car then staggered her way to Marshall, helping him move the rock.

"A fucking lump of rock took you down?" Marceline rasped. Trying to lighten the horrible mood. "Pathetic piece of shit."

"I can't hear you, bitch. You cracked your head again?" Marshall croaked. Noting that the side of Marceline's head was soaked with blood, he admired her for trying to help even though she looked like shit. A figure caught Marshall's attention and Marceline turned to see what it was.

Finn and Jake were limping towards them, Finn's arm was around Jake's shoulder. When they were close to Marceline and Marshall, Finn slumped forward to sit next to Marshall, his hand snagging the torn seam of Jake's vest effectively pulling it off.

Finn was grinning stupidly at them, his right eye was closed and bruised. "We look like total shit right now but at least we're ali-"

Jake was still standing when he turned around to look at what caught his brother's attention.

Twenty feet in front of them amidst the cloud of smoke, the man wearing a baseball cap was pointing a gun straight at Jake's chest. Still holding the remote in his other hand, spreading his arms out, he laughed like a madman.

"I DO THIS FOR _YOU_ MY QUEEN!" The crazed man shouted. Pointing the gun at Jake again. Slowly squeezing the trigger. "THE GODS HAVE SPOKEN! LONG LIVE TH-"

"NO!" Marceline stood up. She pushed Jake aside in time, he collided with the floor as the bullet pierced through the left side of her chest. She didn't see the madman drop the gun with a horrified look on his face.

Marceline felt the wound throb intensely, the pain made her want to curl up into a tight ball but she remembered that the madman had a gun. Still holding her axe with her right hand, Marceline used the momentum to spin counter-clockwise and throwing the axe sideways at the madman as hard as she could before crashing down, making a pool of her own blood.

Loud sobbing was heard from the madman before the sharp metal of the axe connected with his neck practically severing his head off his body.

Jake scrambled to get up, briskly turning Marceline over so that she was lying on her back. Blood stained the front of her jumpsuit. Jake quickly ripped it open revealing Marceline's white work shirt drenched in her own blood. There was a bullet hole above her left breast. Jake placed one hand over the other, over the wound to prevent more blood loss.

"MEDIC! MEDIC! I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!" Jake shouted. He tried to calm his shaking hands. His voice was cracking but he didn't care. "SOMEBODY! PLEASE! G-GET OVER HERE! HELP HER!"

Finn gaped at Marceline, everything happened so fast that he was still in shock. Finn was sitting there watching as his friend was slowly dying and there was nothing that he could do but stare and shout for help. Marshall's hands were outstretched towards Marceline, he wanted to be by his friends side but the rock was preventing him to leave. He was weeping, He wanted to reach her, screaming for any kind of help to come.

Jake saw Marceline's green eyes focus on him. "Hey! You're gonna be fine, help is on the way." Jake gently said. "HELP! HEEELP!" He could hear slightly now, the people around him trying to locate their place through the smoke and dust. "Shh it's okay don't speak." Jake said when Marceline tried to talk.

"...are..are you...g-guys...alright?" Marceline whispered. Coughing and wincing in pain.

"Yeah! We're all fine, everyone here is feeling five-star but you.." Jake smiled. he could sense the people close now. "HERE! RIGHT HERE!"

"...that'ss...good..hey.." Marceline's breathing was shallow. She smiled at Jake.

"Yeah man? What is it?" Jake was crying now, drops tears rolled down his cheeks but he kept his face serious. He needed to be strong for his friend, He could hear Finn and Marshall shouting for help.

"..t..tell bonni...tell her..i..i.." Marceline was still smiling but tears were also in her eyes.

Arms reached past Jake, the medical unit finally found them. All three of them refused help and demanded that the medic tended to Marceline first. They placed her on a stretcher while simultaneously and desperately applying first aid. Jake followed them to the ambulance and insisted on riding with them to the hospital.

When they reached the hospital, Jake still followed them. He refused everything they said and followed them.

Lady was exiting a room right next to the operating room after tending to an injured woman who got caught in the bombing, Bubblegum was also there helping out as an intern. They were together when they saw Marceline being wheeled into emergency with droplets of blood trailing their wake. Then they saw Jake walking lifelessly towards the direction Marceline went to.

Bubblegum couldn't breathe. There was something like an invisible hand clutching her heart. She knew that Marceline and the others were there when the bomb went off but she didn't expect the injuries to be this severe. Marceline was so pale.

"She saved me..." Bubblegum heard Jake cry on Lady's shoulder. "That bastard aimed at me but she pushed me and- and- there was so much blood-" Jake sank on his knees with his bloody hands on his head.

Jake was a cop, him and Finn face life-and-death situations on a daily basis. But he has never experience something as close to death as this, just seconds away from the bullet. It should have been him lying bloody on that stretcher, but because of his dulled senses, Marceline was the one in his place. Jake couldn't live with himself if his friend died. They were too young to die.

Bubblegum slumped on the wall behind her, she saw Jake's hands shaking. Bubblegum stared at those hands dripping with Marceline's blood. Bubblegum felt something wet on her face, she wiped at it again and again, she realized she was crying. Bubblegum couldn't believe this was happening, they were just texting each other hours ago and the last words they said to each other was 'butt-sock'. Bubblegum gave a sound like a choked laugh. This was all just a horrible dream.

Bubblegum noticed an old man with a long white beard, wearing a dark blue suit walk briskly towards the front desk, his crooked nose looked awfully familiar. "Petrikov, Marceline Petrikov. The firefighter, where is she? Where is my granddaughter!" He didn't bother to try to hide the fear in his voice. The nurse in front of him was frantically searching the clipboard.

"Simon!" Jake quickly stood and called out to the man.

Simon snapped his head towards the sound of his name, when he saw who it was, he made his way to where Jake was.

"Jake!" Simon was relieved to see him but after noticing the blood covering Jake's hands, Simon's gaze and voice hardened. "I want to know what happened, Jake. Before the bomb went off they said everything was under control! How did my granddaughter ended up being shot?!" They were startled by the old man's sudden forcefulness.

Jake expounded what happened, from the moment they were assigned to how Marceline was shot. Simon was furious.

"Where's that _bastard_ that shot my granddaughter now?" Simon was shaking with rage. Somebody had dared to hurt his only grand child.

"Marceline threw her axe at him after she was shot. He's dead." Jake said gravely. He was looking at his shaking hands. "It all happened so fast, I'm so sorry Simon." But Jake looked up to see Simon staring at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Simon?"

"She killed him with an axe?" Simon asked, his voice hollow. Jake bobbed his head. "You said her head was bleeding, was it on the right side?" Simon asked again but his voice was beginning to grow shaky. Jake nodded again, confused by the second question. "Oh my God, No." Simon whispered.

Jake was about to ask him what was wrong but then the door of the operating room suddenly banged open. A nurse was walking quickly towards them, blood still splattered on her apron.

"Are you relatives of Ms. Petrikov?" She asked. Seeing them nod "Do any of you have AB negative blood type?" She quickly added. "She needs blood- immediately."

"I do." Bubblegum took a step forward. She rubbed her hands over both her cheeks to remove the remnants of her tears. The nurse gently grabbed her arm and led her inside the operating room.

Bubblegum turned to her friends, silently questioning what was going on. When her eyes turned to Simon, the old man did a double take on her. Bubblegum didn't have time to be confused as she was pushed inside.

"W-Who is that girl?" Simon was sweating. He turned to Jake who had his eyebrows furrowed.

"Marceline didn't introduce her to you?" Jake asked. Simon shook his head. "Her name's Bubblegum."

"So _she's_ the Bubblegum I've been hearing a lot about." Simon nervously chuckled. The relief on his face was clear. "Quite the unusual name she has."

"Oh- Bubblegum is actually her surname, she doesn't like to be called by her first name." Jake stared at the door Bubblegum was shoved into, watching it close, but kept his peripheral view on Simon. "Her full name is Bonnibel Bubblegum."

"Stop." Simon stumbled a step towards the door. Jake caught his arm. "You must stop her! That transfusion should be stopped!"

"What the hell are you saying?!" Jake whispered harshly. "Marceline needs blood! She's lost so much of it and you're telling me to stop Bubblegum?" Jake shook the arm he was holding firmly before letting go. "What is wrong with you today?"

Lady ushered Jake to her side while Simon sank on the waiting chair. Jake didn't understand why Simon tried to stop Bubblegum or why was he asking strange questions or why he was quivering with a hand over his mouth.

Jake failed to hear Simon quietly whisper "No" over and over.

OoO

In a small hut located at the heart of a forest, there lived an old woman. She was kneeling in front of a small fire at the center of the circular room. She was throwing some unusual kind of blue sand into the fire, muttering old words long forgotten by civilizations. The fire suddenly grew, its orange flames changing to violet then blue then yellow and finally to white.

The old woman gasped. Her aged eyed staring straight at the fire while her hands roamed around it. She retrieved a small pouch from her belt, opening it to reveal white sand, she pinched a small amount and sprinkled it on the white fire, her eyes never leaving the flames like it was showing her something.

The old woman softly whispered a name to the white fire, just as the name slipped past her lips the fire became erratic and wild, its white flames suddenly turning into angry red.

The woman covered her eyes and screamed at the fire. Spewing old words again until the fire calmed down, it was no longer an angry red but instead its color was a thick red, like blood. She groped the floor beside her and picked up a book, she held it inches from the fire.

The flames swirled, the pages of the book flipped until it stopped on a page. A small ball of fire floated from the flames to the page of the book, burning the upper right corner of it with a single letter.

As the woman read the contents of the page out loud, the fire yet again became frenzied, more violent this time. Swaying right and left, turning big and small, then unexpectedly disappearing right after. Not even leaving a trail of smoke, it was as if it didn't exist. The old woman shakily stood up, horror written all over her aged face.

"What did it say?" A deep voice of a man from a corner said.

Still holding the book she faced the owner of the voice, her senescent eyes filled with so much hate. When she spoke, her voice trembled as she tried to control her anger.

_The forthcoming of the Chosen Heir is near,_

_The wielder of the ax whom the Gods hold dear._

_Love from the Mother, Bulwark from the Father,_

_The Great Ruler shall ascend, the kingdom shall prosper._

_Blood from the exalted for the last totem to appear,_

_A mark that shall instill every being with fear._

"The Gods have chosen someone." The old woman whispered as she finished translating what was written on the page.

"It seems so," The voice hummed. "Shall I inform our people that the long awaited ruler is a _king_ and not a queen?" There was a deep rumble as the man chuckled lowly. "They've been really _disruptive_ lately but its not like I could blame them, it _has_ been quite a while since we had a king, yes?" There was a hint of smile in his voice.

"That is true, but..." The woman turned around. "The prophesied ruler is a woman."

"The only candidate we have now is a man, surely you know that?" The man chuckled.

"Yes, I am quite aware of that. But as it turns out," She held her chin up, glaring at the dark corner the man was standing at. "the other candidate, wasn't dead."

The man was silent now. "And did the Gods whisper that to you?" He mocked.

"They did." The woman said with pride. She still held the book in front of her, her arms slightly shaking due to the book's weight. "How dare you make a fool of us. The Elders _will_ know about this."

"Tell me," The man emerged from the shadows with an evil grin on his face. "Who in their right mind would believe an exiled witch?" He slyly said. The man had a garb of a business man. He was tall, his sleek black hair was clean and trimmed, he wore a finely tailored dark blue suit and a pair of dark red boots. He had serpent-like green eyes that were coldly looking down at the woman.

"Do you think no one else will know? That the Gods will not speak to any one of our people?" The woman cackled. "You think you can selfishly keep her to your own?!"

"I will do anything to shield her away from our filth." The man slowly walked towards her, gently taking the outstretched book with his left hand.

"Some of us _already_ know. It's only a matter of time before _they_ find her!" She hissed. Reaching for the book the man now held. "She needs protection for the Hunt- HNNK!"

The man pierced the woman at the center of her chest, he held her beating heart in his hand that was still inside her body. "My daughter will take no part in this." he said coldly. And at that he crushed her heart.

He closed the book with one hand as the lifeless body of the old woman thudded on the wooden floor.

The man's phone rang from a pocket inside his suit. He placed the book in his right arm pit and squeezed so that it wont fall before retrieving the phone with his left hand. It was his assistant, swiping the screen to answer the call. "Speak."

"Mr. Abadeer..." The woman on the other line said nervously. "Your daughter has been shot."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Whoop there it is. Im sorry about this late upload I didnt expect writing fanfic would be hard. The pressure is choking me, seriously.(and im having some serious naruto crisis rn) But Im not stopping, I just hope you guys aren't mad about, you know, what I did with the story. Don't worry though! This is dark but not dark-dark, I dont want it to get boring so there's still a lot of laughs and fluff and lemons up ahead. Thank you for reading and the reviews and everything you guys are like the frosting to my cake. Thanks again guys!**


	6. You Can't Stop Me

Marceline opened her eyes and found herself lying on grass and flowers, above her, the clear blue sky was littered with clouds here and there. She was genuinely confused to why she was there, because the last thing she remembered was being prodded by scared looking medics.

She pushed herself up by the elbows to look survey the area.

A beautiful meadow scattered with all kinds of flowers was on her left side, while to her right was the gorgeous view of the sea. It was so clear and blue that it reminded her of someone's eyes.

_Holy shit am I dead? _Marceline wondered. She blinked at the butterfly that passed by._ I didn't expect hell to be this subdued. Really? Butterflies? _

Looking over her body, she noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual fire man jumpsuit but instead, she wore a short white dress with matching shoes. She stood up and patted her dress down, she twisted her hip left and right feeling the soft fabric brush her skin. _Dang, I feel pretty in these. Must be nice being dead._

"You're not dead, dingus." An irritated feminine voice said. The sound came from beside her, just below her right shoulder.

Marceline snapped her head to the side, startled by the voice and the height difference. Her eyes widened and with a yelp of surprise she staggers backwards, trips, and falls flat on her butt, a shaking finger pointed accusingly at the source of her shock. "H-Holy fucking shit!" she stuttered "M-Mom?!"

The frown on the woman's face was a clear sign that she was not amused. "Pull yourself together." She reached out and pulled Marceline up by the arms, ignoring the frightened sound Marceline made. "What makes you think I'm your mother? We look nothing alike."

They looked exactly alike. The only difference in them was the color of their hair and eyes, even the shape of their crooked nose was the same. The woman had dark brown hair and hazel eyes the eyes were the same shade as Simon's. She looked a few years younger and several inches shorter than Marceline.

"I'm- I'm not _that_ dense! We have pictures at home! Simon even has this big ass painting of you in his living room! And it's not like I don't remember you!" Marceline coughed and cleared her throat, realizing how rude her outburst was. She straightened and marveled at the woman in front of her. "Wow. You- Uhh- You still look really pretty." She tentatively reached a hand out to gently touch her mother's cheek, softly holding it while both of them smiled. "But why are you so tiny?"

"You are so like your father." The woman who was previously smiling, frowned and slapped Marceline's hands away from her face. She scowled at Marceline while saying "I'm not _tiny_ you're just tall and you're ruining the moment." The woman huffed and pouted her lips, she also crossed her arms for good measure.

Marceline throws back her head and laughs.

She didn't expect her mother to be like this, not that she's complaining or anything. Marceline pictured her mother to be sweet, gentle and delicate, the type that made cookies and cakes and ask about how the day went. There was nothing gentle and delicate about the woman in front of her now, and to Marceline, that made it even better. Her mom was awesome.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!" Her mother stomped her feet. It only served to make Marceline laugh harder. "_You're_ lucky you inherited giant genes." The woman muttered.

"I'm sorry" The residue of her laughter still clear in her voice. Marceline clears her throat again. Grinning at her mother she says "This is totally not what I was expecting."

"Is that a bad thing?" Her mother looks up, despite the annoyed expression on her face, her eyes showed nervousness.

"Jesus Christ, no! I'm just happy I now know where my temperament's from. I was beginning to think that I was adopted or something." Marceline chuckled. The relief on her mother's face made her smile. "So you're that Olivia that everyone admired?"

"And you're that Marceline that I keep hearing about?" Olivia raised an eyebrow. They mimicked each others expression, from smiling to scowling to just random make faces. Olivia stopped mid frown to examine her daughter's face. Marceline looked exactly like her, from the shape of her face to the crook of her her nose. _Even our dimples look alike, but her eyes are the same as that troll._ Olivia blinked when Marceline smiled warmly at her. _Oh my God. How can she smile exactly like that idiot while looking like me?! She's grown so much without my help. Without_ me.

"You-" Olivia's voice cracked. She bit her bottom lip, clapping a hand over her mouth. She reached for Marceline's face with her other hand, caressing her daughter's face. "You remember me?"

"Of course I do" Marceline gently enclosed Olivia in a tight hug, feeling arms wrap around her waist.

"My little baby turned into a stupid giant" Her voice was muffled by Marceline's shoulder. Marceline tried to soothe her mother by running a hand up and down her back.

After a while of content silence and hugging, Marceline chuckled and said "But I seriously didn't expect you to be _this_ small."

"Can you not?" Olivia said indignantly. Slowly pulling away from the embrace and scrunching up her nose and eyebrows while pinching the nose of the taller girl. She playfully said "I'm not small!-" Moving the hand that was pinching Marceline left and right "-you-are-all-just-tall!" then flicking her nose hard.

Marceline yelped and quickly covered her nose with her hands. When she was done nursing it, she gave her mother a displeased look, muttering "That kinda hurt you know" Marceline just rolled her eyes when Olivia stuck her tongue out. "Where are we anyway? I'm guessing it's not hell since you know-" She waved at the ocean and flowers "-less fire?"

"Oh, don't worry. That place is reserved for the worst souls" Looking thoughtful for a moment, a hand under her chin Olivia added "I'm not even sure if hell is the right word for it, there's torture, yes. Different kinds actually but there's not much fire, it's not much of a hot place either, it's rather cold in the deeper parts." She waved her hand dismissively and said "Whatever, me and Ma didn't feel like going there. The screams are kinda creepy and Satan looks so fucked up and-"

"Hold up." Marceline held a hand up to stop her mother from speaking further. She turned her head to give Olivia a deadpan stare and asking her very slowly "You've been to hell?"

"Yes- well technically, they stopped calling it hell a few centuries ago-"

"You went with _grandma_?"

"_She_ was the one who wanted to go! She wouldn't stop talking about Satan's autograp-"

"_You met Satan_?!"

"Well yeah! He's actually a great guy once you get over the dickish attitude and his perpetual hangover _and_ an awful lot of other issues." Oblivious to her daughter's mental breakdown, Olivia continued "He wanted to meet you, you know. Most of the Gods and souls here want to because of that- What the hell are you _looking_ at?"

The dark haired girl was staring and pointing at the horizon over her mother's head, her mouth opening and closing unable to formulate words.

Surfing on the high waves was a tanned man dressed in white glowing robes with RayBan shades, his shoulder-length black wavy hair wet and glistening with ocean water. He was excitedly waving his hand towards their direction. He made a move to swerve his surfing board making him sway then gracefully entering and exiting a tunnel of waves.

Marceline made a squeaking noise and instinctively stepping forward when the man jumped off his board and onto the water, she was expecting him to be swallowed by the water but he simply regained his balance then jogged to them. Marceline could see the outline of his toned body through his soaked robes.

"Why the hell is _he_ here?!" Olivia hissed. The brunette narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment then slapped her daughter at the back of her head. "You said his name!"

Marceline yelped and covered her head, finally snapping out of her trance and turning suddenly to her mother with a look of amazement and saying "I really don't know why you think I did this-" casting a quick look at the man who was steadily making his way to them then back to her mother "-but if this is a regular thing here then I want in!"

"Do you know who that is? Do you?!" Olivia whispered harshly. Marceline only gave her a confused look as an answer. "That's Jesus, you dingus!"

"Jesus?! You mean Jesus Christ the savior and shit? For real?" Marceline's eyes widened when Olivia nodded. "Damn! That book didn't say shit about him being this hot!"

"Oh my." Said a smooth deep husky voice from behind Marceline. "I'm honored that you find me hot."

Startled and slightly disoriented, Marceline took a few steps backwards until she was in front of her mother. The man, having discarded his white robes, was in nothing but a black loincloth wrapped around his private parts, his body was sparkling with salt water. Upon seeing the very toned body of the man and the deep dimples on his perfect face, Marceline's face went very red. Despite this, she had a strong urge to shield her mother from this strange but very attractive man.

"Would you mind covering yourself? I think one near dearth experience due to blood loss is enough for my kid." Olivia said dryly. Tugging Marceline's head down to wipe at the small droplets of blood collecting on her nose. "Why are you even here? Please don't tell me the others are on their way."

"Well, I can't miss this chance to meet her!" The gorgeous man reasoned. He snapped his fingers and white robes suddenly materialized from thin air. Putting it while saying "And no, the others are not coming. All of us wanted to but we knew you'd flip your shit if all of us went. We had a tournament, you know, and the champion gets to go here!"

"What _kind_ of tournament?" Olivia narrowed her eyes.

"Rock Paper Scissors" Jesus proudly said. "Durga tried to be tricky but I sure showed her!"

Marceline was like a fish of the water with how her mouth was opening and closing, Olivia just rolled her eyes.

"But why would you guys want to see me?" Marceline asked when she found her voice. A thought hit her and her eyes widened, she added "Am I in trouble?"

"Oh goodness, no!" Jesus laughed. He playfully nudged her side with his elbow and said "We wanted to have a chance to thank you for saving the lives of our believers and let you know that their loved ones are thankful as well."

"Uhh.. Why would you do that?"

"Duh, our believers are the main source of our spiritual power. Most of the lives you've saved so far are my fanatics, they pray to me about you." Jesus smiled. He snapped his fingers twice and a basket and a white blanket spread out beneath it materialized on the grass. "Thank you for saving them."

"You're uhh... You're welcome Jesus." Marceline took a seat when Jesus patted the covered grass, her mother followed suit. Taking a glass with freshly poured wine that Jesus handed her, she said "This is so weird. Jesus Christ personally thanking me, and I didn't know you were smokin'! I mean look at those pecks! And you're giving me wine- is this water changed to wine?" Looking pleased with himself, Jesus gave a curt nod. Marceline took a sip from her glass and her eyes widened. "Holy shit this is the bomb!"

"You should try the vodka, those would blow your mind." Jesus said smugly. Noticing the hopeful expression on Marceline's face, he added "That's for next time, when you're allowed to party with us."

"Wait, what?" Marceline stared confusedly at her mother and Jesus. "Is there a membership or something? I mean, I'm already dead."

Jesus turned his head and regarded Olivia with a raised brow, the latter just shrugged a shoulder and rolled her eyes.

Olivia sighed. "As I was saying before we got sidetracked _and_ got rudely interrupted-" She gave Jesus a reproachful look then turned her head to Marceline and said "You are not dead."

"B-But why am I here?" Marceline asked. More confused and speechless than before.

"Your body thought it was dying so it ejected your soul or something like that." Olivia said. "The body takes time to heal, it sets the soul free so that it wont get trapped inside when the body dies."

"But if the body dies or rots then there's no returning, right?" Jesus asked nonchalantly.

"I think? Anyway, it's a natural thing so don't freak out." Olivia shrugged.

"Yeah, we actually have no idea _why_ you're here though." Jesus said, eyebrows drawn together. He started pulling plates and food out of the basket. "Normally, a soul would just wonder about on earth until its body pulls it back but you managed to _almost_ cross another dimension with your link still intact." Jesus used the chicken leg that he was eating to point at Marceline's chest. "This hasn't happened before, I'm genuinely impressed- Oh! It's red. That's cute."

Marceline glanced down her front. There was suddenly a glowing red spot on the center of her chest, a thin thread was connected to it and Marceline tried to see where it lead to but the thread was stretched far across the horizon. Her eyes widened as she started to panic. "Where the fuck did this come from? Is this bad? What do you mean you don't know? How come this thing-"

"I said don't freak out! It's usually white and that _thing_ is your ticket back to your body, and you-" Olivia shot Jesus a look "-stop teasing her already! This was supposed to be a happy _family _ reunion!"

"Well, we're all brothers and sisters are we not? And you were taking so long, I thought I'd just give a helping hand." Jesus pulled a watermelon and a knife out of the basket. "And I said the link was cute! Look at it, it's red!"

"But _why_ is it red?" Marceline asked. She was getting more and more antsy by the second.

"We don't really know why, The Maker had the info sealed" Jesus shrugged. "And they also said you wont last long here since our dimensional timeline's messed up or something like that."

"Maker?" Marceline asked. She took the slice of watermelon that Jesus passed her. "What? As in _The _God? Your dad?"

"Oh my, The Maker is neither man nor woman. At first I thought they were my _father_ because it was two _thousand_ years ago or something- and people back then were so obsessed with men being a symbol of power- not that anything has changed but-" Jesus waved his hand dismissively. "I realized my mistake when I died and I met them. I didn't want my dudebros to get confused since I had no time to explain everything, so you know, I just kinda winged it."

"You do know your _dudebros_ wrote a book about your whole life?"

"I didn't thought I'd get famous- well, not that much. We were just a bunch of guys travelling around and helping people with my abilities!" Jesus said. His brows lowered while he muttered "But others used my name in order to wage wars and destroy peaceful lands, greed and for other shameful things. It was humiliating as it was insulting."

Jesus was looking at nowhere in particular with an angry and evil look on his face that Marceline instinctively scooted closer to her mother. Marceline cautiously took the slice of cake Jesus moodily offered her.

"You're scaring my kid with your face." Olivia sneered. Taking the cake Marceline was holding and eating it herself. "It's not her fault so cut it out."

"Oh." Breaking out of his short flash back, Jesus scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I apologize Marceline, that was rude."

"No, it's alright. I guess?"

"Don't mind him, He's just jealous of us because he can't be reborn to get shit right." Olivia nonchalantly said.

"I am not!" Said Jesus indignantly. He had a holed hand above his heart looking insulted.

"Reborn?" Marceline repeated.

"What? You thought _all_ the souls would hang out together? Do you know how many souls we already have there?" Jesus took a bit from the apple he just pulled out.

"Well isn't that what the after-world's supposed to do?"

"Not really, When we croak we just wait for our other halves to die too to be reborn again together. Some can't wait that long since they died early so they ask to be reborn right away." Olivia said. She was eating something that looked like a turkey leg but bigger. "And the ones who refused to follow the goddamn light are still on earth being ghosts and shit. It doesn't work that way with Gods though, since you know, they're Gods."

"So why are you and grandma still around?" Marceline sputtered

"I died in my early twenties Marceline, as much as I love your father I'm not into that age-doesn't-matter-twenty-year-time-gap thing. Is it okay if your father dated someone way more _younger_ than you?" at Marceline's thoughtful head shake, Olivia added "Imagine your grandparents doing that and- no wait. Don't, that's nasty."

"So you're just going to wait for him until then? Won't you get bored? What _have_ you been doing?" Marceline asked again.

"Lately I've been spending time with Satan, He's not as ghastly as you think he is." Olivia shot Jesus a sour look. "Since the parties Jesus threw sucked so much."

"You talk as if you didn't enjoy any of it! _I _was the one who introduced you to him!" Jesus said hotly. To Marceline he muttered "She's just mad about that prank I pulled-" A high beeping noise came from inside the basket and Jesus reached inside to pull out a small device. "Oh, Dear, it's almost time for you to go."

"There goes my bonding time." Olivia sighed. She stood up and dusted her dress, looking at Marceline expectantly. "Time to go back, Marcy."

"Whoa, Whoa! What do you mean it's time to go?" Marceline's eyes widened and she abruptly stood up too. "You haven't even explained _this _shit to me?!" She gestured at string attached to her chest that was noticeably glowing more.

"What do you mean explain? We're only here to keep you company." Jesus said. "It's not like you'll remember any of this when you wake up- well, for a while that is."

Seeing her daughter so confused and lost, Olivia sighed again. "We can't tell you what we know Marceline, The Maker told us not to give any hints."

"_Why?_"

"The Maker doesn't like spoilers." Jesus huffed. He too stood up and dusted his robes. "Don't worry, I'm sure your people will love you. They might look like crazed animals but they're just angry and confused and a bit psychotic but like, whatever you know. Besides, you got Bubble-" A distant rumble above the clouds was suddenly heard. The three of them looked up to see the clouds slowly turning black "-Oh. Did I say that? Okay no more questions."

"You're gonna be fine, Marcy." Olivia took a step closer to her daughter and pulled her down for a tight hug. She murmured on her child's shoulder "I'm sure your father will tell you everything real soon." She pulled away but kept her hands on Marceline's shoulder. "Just give him and Dad time, okay? He's just doing what he think is right, he's too stubborn to realize anything. Please be patient with him, He just loves you too much."

"Okay, I'll try." Accepting that she wont get any information, Marceline surrendered and nodded obediently. A thought entered her mind after she kissed her mother's forehead. "Have you seen Tuff around?"

Olivia slowly blinked and took a step back. Avoiding any eye contact she said "No."

"What do you mean no? Was he reincarnated already?" Marceline demanded. "You must have seen him! He's not really that hard to find, he's really loud all the time and-"

"Marceline." Olivia softly interrupted. "He's...He's not dead."

A lightning struck right beside the spot where Jesus was standing on. All of them flinched and jumped few paces back.

"Why are you hitting _me_ for?!" Jesus yelled at the sky. To Marceline he said "Listen, darling, you have to stop questioning us." He struck a pose, both his thumbs up and index fingers pointing at her. Jesus clicked his tongue twice before saying "It was nice meeting you, Marceline. Now, be free!"

"We _really_ can't tell you anything." Olivia held Marceline's hand in both of hers. "Please be careful when you wake up. A lot will happen, Marceline. I don't want to see you here again any time soon. Give your gramps a hug for me and tell your dad he's a jerkfaced nerd."

"I will, give grandma my love okay?" Marceline gripped her mother's hand when she felt the string attached to her chest becoming warm. Looking at her mother for the last time, Marceline said "I miss you so much mom, I love you."

"I love you too, Marceline." Olivia felt her heart swell with so much affection. She cupped her daughter's jaw, caressing Marceline's cheek with her thumb. "And I want you to know that I'm _so_ proud of you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, my baby, my Marceline."

The smile that adorned Marceline's face was so warm and bright that Jesus had to wear his sunglasses again. She scanned her mother's face one last time, willing herself to remember every single detail that she doesn't see whenever she looks in the mirror. Marceline is sure that she wont remember this but she had to try, to try to remember what it feels to finally have a conversation with her mother.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Olivia's innocent smile turned into a sly one when Marceline tilted her head. "You'll introduce this Bonnibel to me, yeah? Her parents kept pestering me about you, they wanted to see if you were good enough for her and I was like duhh."

Marceline felt herself blush, even more when Jesus whistled. "Oh, my God! Of course I will but aren't you... Is it okay? You know...Bi.."

"Look what your people did to my kid." Olivia chided Jesus. She turned to Marceline and gently said. "The body is just a vessel for the soul, Marceline. It's fine, I wont love you less because you chose to love a woman like yourself."

"Is she my.." Marceline hesitated. "Is she my other half?"

"She's- uhh.." The loud rumbling now directly above them made Olivia stop short and look up. "You really need to stop asking shit and- Oh!"

The thread was now giving a low hum and Marceline could feel it vibrating, she felt the string pull at her chest roughly. A single drop of water landed on Marceline's head before The earth beneath them shook slightly, a whirlwind surrounded her body and then finally engulfed by a large fire. The thread zoomed to where it originally came from and Marceline was there no more.

"Well _that_ was flashy." Olivia turned to Jesus.

"They're Elders, darling." Jesus rolled his eyes. "What more can you expect."

"True." The short woman nodded. "I'm just glad she's gonna wake up."

"Yeah, you have a nice kid." Jesus pulled another apple from the basket he was holding. "I hope The Maker doesn't punish us, I don't think I can handle another party ban. I didn't even tell her anything!"

"Yeah, like that one time you got Zeus and Thor drunk and compete with each other just to know who was better at shooting people with lightning but then ended up shooting the same man?" Olivia gave a roar of laughter and Jesus spat bits of apples in the air.

"THAT WAS ONE TIME!"

OoO

The insistent beeping was the only thing that was heard in the room. The smell of medicine and generic detergent mingling in the air. Bubblegum shifted from where she was seated.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Lady and Finn were playing chess in the corner of the room. Lady was probably winning, she always does and Finn would request another game since he didn't like to lose.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Jake was sitting on the couch, his mouth hanging open and legs sprawled on the floor. Marshall was also there playing his PSP with the head phones plugged in, despite the persistent advice of the doctor that he should stay in his own room to recover.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Simon was outside, probably talking to someone. Asking every doctor he knew why his granddaughter wont wake up. Asking and calling favors, desperately trying to find an answer.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Someone named Hudson visited a couple of times, The intense look in his green eyes were slightly unnerving. He would stand beside the wounded woman on the bed and stare, for hours and hours he would just stare at her face. Sometimes his eyes would flash dangerously, such eyes filled with hate and something else. Bubblegum knew it wasn't directed at her but she couldn't help but recoil.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Bubblegum was seated on the chair beside the bed, her fingers tangled with unmoving ones. Her eyes were tired from crying, they were red and puffy. After her shifts in the hospital Bubblegum would always come back and take her seat, even in her breaks were used there. Her spare clothes were inside a bag at her feet, she was so scared of leaving even for a minute that she asked Lady to bring her clothes for her.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Marceline was laying on the bed, chest slowly rising and falling. It's been two weeks since the explosion, the doctors said that she wasn't in a coma, she was just..._sleeping._ The injuries were severe and the blood loss was enough to kill her but the moment Bubblegum's blood entered her body, it started healing. The blood from her head and chest stopped overflowing, some of the surgeons swore that they saw the wounds _slowly_ healing on their own. Bubblegum sighed and rubbed her eyes with her other hand.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-_

Bubblegum paused, the hand rubbing her eyes lowering. This was the sound that she was dreading to hear. It felt like her chest was suddenly being filled with ice cold water and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Slowly raising her head to look at Marceline, her chest was no longer rising nor falling, it was still.

Marceline was not breathing.

Bubblegum heard Lady gasp and someone was running to the door, Finn's voice was booming in the hallway. Yelling for a doctor to come. Jake was no longer asleep, he was beside the bed furiously clicking the device that notified the nurses that they were needed. Marshall has already rolled his wheelchair beside the bed, he was shaking Marceline.

Finn came crashing through the door, followed closely by nurses and doctors. They ushered everyone away from the bed then tended to Marceline. They checked her eyes, her pulse, one of the doctors tried using the defibrillator on her, once, twice. The beeping didn't come back.

They tried everything they could but in the end, with slumped shoulders, one said "Time of death, two fifty nine."

Bubblegum took a few steps towards the bed, she stopped the nurse that was about to pull the covers above Marceline's head. Gently shaking her head and taking Marceline's hand to tangle them again, it was still warm. Her tears streamed down her face but she didn't care.

Simon stumbled through the door, sweat and tears on his face. Taking in the scene before him and kneeling. "No... Not again.." His voice croaked and cracked. The high pitched sound was the only thing heard aside from the sniffing.

Bubblegum felt like this before, it was similar but this was more excruciating. Her heart felt so heavy, like her guts were pulling it down. Bubblegum's brows were scrunched in the effort to stop her tears so that she could see Marceline's face. Lifting her other hand to caress Marceline's face then finally resting her hand on her still chest.

_I was going to tell you_ Bubblegum's hand slightly shook Marceline's chest _I was planning on telling you how I felt, you jerk! You stupid asshole!_

Bubblegum felt the skin beneath her hand grow warm. It was so warm that it was beginning to feel hot. The fingers that were tangled to hers slightly twitched.

"Me too...Butt-face." The supposedly dead woman softly whispered. Marceline opened her eyes and smiled weakly.

Bubblegum flinched. She pulled the hand that was on Marceline's chest away but still held her hand.

"You were dead!" Bubblegum didn't realize that tears no longer oozed from her eyes.

"I was?" Marceline lifted a brow.

"You weren't breathing!" Bubblegum argued. For the first time in two weeks she was starting to smile.

"I wasn't?" Marceline was grinning now. She inhaled a lot of air then exhaled through her nose.

"Your heart wasn't beating!" Bubblegum exclaimed. She was laughing now. The others were slowly gathering behind her.

"Really?" Marceline guided their tangled fingers to her chest.

The heart monitor began to beep at the same moment Bubblegum felt a hard thump on the back of her hand. It was steady. Healthy. Alive. Marceline was alive.

Bubblegum threw her arms around Marceline, wrapping the dark haired woman in a fierce embrace. "I thought you died, you jerk!" Bubblegum was crying again but this time, they were from joy.

"I don't believe I'm saying this, but you thought wrong." Marceline chucked.

Marceline held the shaking woman in her arms and noticed an old man kneeling on the floor. His shoulders were shaking and it was obvious that he was crying behind his hands. Marceline slowly pulled away from Bubblegum but kept their hands intertwined.

"Hey. Hey. Heeeyy." Marceline said in a low nasally voice. The old man raised his head and more tears flowed when he saw Marceline gently smile at him. "Hey there Simon."

Simon thought Marceline's voice sounded so hauntingly like those of the wife and daughter he so dearly loved. His eyes widened at the idea and he shook his head while scampering near his granddaughter's bed.

"I thought you went to them, I thought you l-left me too." Simon still had tears dribbling down his cheeks. He let out a soft cry and laugh when he finally touched Marceline's cheek. He wasn't dreaming again.

"Hey, none of that. C'mere you." Marceline yanked Simon's tie making him tilt forward. She wrapped her free arms around his back. Simon started to kiss her forehead, cheeks, nose and even her chin again and again until they were both laughing.

"Shtaaph- Cut it- I'm geTTING FACIAL HAIR IN MY MOUTH!" Marceline playfully shouted as she pushed Simon off her with her hand flat on his face. She noticed Marshall, Lady, and Jake laughing and silently rubbing the tears away from their eyes. Finn was crying openly. "Good to see you guys weeping over my failed death, I feel so loved."

"Don't be stupid."Lady sniffed.

"We weren't crying! My eyes were just sweating!" Jake blew his nose on a tissue.

"I think I kinda like you just being asleep." Marshall muttered but he too was wiping his tears.

"MARCY!" Finn flung himself on the bed by Marceline's feet and hugged her uninjured legs. Finn turned his head upward to look at Marceline and gave his most adorable puppy eyes soaked with actual tears.

"Oi, oi. I'm here you brat, stop crying you're spilling eye juice all over my legs." Marceline gently ruffled his blond hair, smiling fondly. She was touched by how her friends cared for her.

The room was filled with laughter and occasional sniffing and blowing of noses but they were happy. Marceline noticed two nurses by the door dabbing their eyes and smiling at her.

The doctors were examining her eyes and mouth again, prodding here and there then finally checking but not unwrapping the bindings to her almost healed chest and head injury. They were almost finished when Marceline's stomach suddenly grumbled.

"What the hell? Why am I so _hungry_?" Marceline rubbed the spot above her navel. Her stomach growl was so intense she cringed.

"Well duh, you slept for two weeks." Marshall rolled his wheelchair closer to the bed.

"_Two weeks_? You have got to be shitting me, that felt just like a _day_ not _weeks_." Marceline sat up, cringing again when her stomach gave another rumble.

"Not lying dude! Jesus Christ, you should have seen- what's wrong?" Marshall's eyebrows were knitted together and his tone made the others quickly look at Marceline.

"N-Nothing. I'm not really sure but I just got a feeling that something would suddenly show up." Marceline had pulled her sheets up to her chin, a slight blush on her face.

"Did someone order pizza?" A deep soothing voice said. An attractive looking pizza delivery guy entered the room through the open door. His shoulder-length black hair was wavy and it complimented his tan skin. He was wearing a red polo shirt that hugged his toned body and some black pants. Smiling brightly he said "The door was open so I just went in, is there a Marshall here?"

"Here!" Marshall quickly rolled in front of the delivery man and handed him some money. Marshall placed the boxes of pizza on his lap and thanked the pizza man.

The attractive delivery guy made eye contact with Marceline and she instinctively sat up straighter. "It's good to see you're finally awake Miss." He then struck a pose with his thumb up and index finger pointed at Marceline, then he winked. The delivery man walked out of the room leaving all the people in it so confused.

"I don't care what you say Doc." Marceline said. Breaking the silence and making all the eyes on her again. "I'm gonna eat that pizza and you can't stop me."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! It's me again! :)) Im sorry im such an irresponsible piece of shit haha! Here you go and thanks for the awesome reviews! dont worry about the next updates i finally have a goal! an idea suddenly whacked my head so here, chill Jesus! If i offended some of your beliefs then im sorry(not really) but hey! it's just fiction! i made the name of Marceline's mom Olivia cuz i dont know what else to call her :)) Happy New Year ladies and gents! I LOVE YOU ALLLLL! 3<strong>


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